Combined inlet and unloading valve gear



v 1 643 899 Sept. 7, 1927. B. V. NORDBERG y COMBINED INLET AND UNLOADING VALVE GEAR Filed May 21. 1925 s shears-sheet 1 61H0: nc u J Sept; 27, 1927.

B. NORDBERG COMBINED INLET AND UNLOADING .VALVE GEAR Filed May 21", 51925' s sheets-sheet 2 Sept. 27, 1927.

B. y\'/i NORDBERG COMBINED INLET AND UNLOADING vALvE ma Filed May 21. 1925 5 sheets-'she 5 manto@ 311020 fil-'b2' ely @tbm/Maud,

Patented Sept. 27, 1927.

unirse? sra-Tas tenseseilt-rien Baone v. nonnsnne, nn'cnesnn, Ilaria or iv'rlnwaux'nn, Wisconsin', BY HELENA c. mamans, EXECUTRIX, or MILWAUKEE, Wrscoivsnr.

COMBINED INLET Ann N'LOADING vLvn GEAR.

Application fiia ivi'a'y'z'i, 1925. sensi Nb. 31,957.

This invention relates to a` maneuvering' .tion of any tlirottliiig action on the inlet steam and Without any danger of the engine continuing its motion for a: p of a ro# tation under light rload because of steam trapped in the cylinders'.v

The invention isparticularlyy intended for' use on multi-cylinder reversing rolling'inill engines of the type' described and claimed in relatedapplieaton Ser. No;

21', 1925', and'is a' modification of and an improvement on the structure described in another related application'for patentl oni Ser. No." 31.950 filed reversing valve gear', I May 2l, 1925. In the drawings the invention is sho'ivn as'appliedto'on'e cylinder unit of a multi-cylinder rolling mill engine.' valve gear is available for use in other connections and no necessary limitation to this field of use is implied. The utility' of'` the invention and the importance of certain characteristics can best be ev'plained'in connection ivith reversing rolling inill'eiigines, and it is for thisv reason that it isso described. y

The past practice in driving rev-ers -.0 rolling mills with steam engines Was-to use two cvlinders set quartering and operating on loiig cut-offs, 'usually about The long cut-off Was necessary to high starrting vtorque in unfavorable cranl'r positions, anpd Was desirable for smooth action because the necessity for quick reversal precluded the use of fly Wheels. and even re'qiiir'ed reduction of the rotating'masses to a mint mum. Rolling mill engines are subjected to extreme and sudden variations of load, and

in order to secure smooth action it was' necessary to throttle the inl-et steam, so that the throt-tling checked sudden acceleratioi'is" of the engine While permittingtheengine to meet load increases.

rihe combined effect of throttledfinlet and'A long cut-o is necessarily llow eilici'enc'y, and the purpose of the invention n related application first referred toy is to produce a reversible rolling mill engine Ain which no throttling. regulation is required,`

in which the steam is used expansiv'ely at" combined With sista aaa The covered bythe varying eut-olf according to the load, and in which the engine isstarted, stopped, and reversed solely through manipulation of the reversing' valve gear. To do this successfully three or more double-acting cylinders are necessary. The engine of that application included an unloading valve' mechanism' Wliic'h'vvas actuated by the inlet valve' mechanism When" the latter had its n'iaxiinuinl travel, characteristic of full gear settings.

The second of the applications above videntified describes and claims a reversing valve" gear having a constant lead characteristic' throi'iglioi'it the range ofv its forward' and reverse settings, andl provided' with means' to'neutr'alize this lead at', and only at, midgear position, so that" in this position all the inlet valvesV are closedto bring the ven gine to rest. rl"he present application relatest i valve gearis moved to mid gear position.A

The invention is'illustiatedapplied` to an engine of the terminal exhaust orl uiiifloiv type for the reason that this permits'the elimination: of all 'exhaust valve' gear and reversing" 'meclianisn'i therefor, and lfurthe'or because permits a reduction of the clearance inthe Working spaces.

The present application also illustrates how the unloading mechanism characteristic of the' present' invention may be combined vvith unloading mechanisms 'characteristic of the prior application,- so that neither unloading mechanism interferes With the action of the other.

and that there is a" secondary unloading of cert-ain' of the cylinders in both full gear positions.A` These tvvo unloading actions` cany sav It follows 'that all cylinders are" 'unloaded or vented inmid gear position,

quadrant yoke toneutralize the lead. Specific claims to this construction are included in the present application. Broader claims are presented in the second of the prior applications above identified. General claims to the mechanism for unloading in full gear position, and other features referred to as covered by the prior applications identified above are not claimed herein, but are reserved for said applications.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying" drawings, in which- Fig.. 1 is a partial side elevation of one cylinder unit complet-e, together with the servo-motor mechanism by which the valve gear is maneuvcred;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal section, somewhat diagrammatic in character, showing the valve gear, the maneuvering mechanism therefor, and the connections from the valve gear to the inlet valves;

F 3 is a fragmentary plan view showing` th-e shiftable support for the quadrant yokes and the arrangement of these yokes and of the eccentric rods;

Fig. l is a vertical section on the line l-l of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the crank end inlet valve and unloading valve.

The cylinder is shown at G and a portion of the main frame at 7. The piston rod is illustrated at 8 and the tail rod at 9. The piston, which is of the elongated type characteristic of terminal exhaust engines, coiisists of two heads 10, 10 spaced apart on the rod 8, this being a familiar construction in engines of this type. The exhaust belt is shown at 11, the inlet steam poi'ts at 12, the crank end steam chest at 13 and the head end steam chest at 141-. The main throttle valve, whose form is not material to the present invention, is shown at 15 and a cam mechanism for actuating this throttle valve at 16. The inlet steam connections are shown at 17. The cross head is shown at 13, guides at 19, connecting rod at 2O and crank pin at 21. The crank shaft is not illustrated, but is of ordinary construction.

The construction of the steam inlet valves is best shown in Fig. 5. rllhe inlet valve consists cfa double-beat poppet valve 22 which seats in the usual cage 23 and which is actu ated by a stem 24 through a resilient connection consisting of a compression spring 25 held between a collar 26 on the stein 241 and the upper end of the poppet valve The purpose of this construction is to secure a slightly yielding seating pressure on the valve 22 when the latter is closed. The stein 24: reciprocates in a guide sleeve 27 and carries at its upper end a head 28 which slides in a guideway 29. The head 28 is linked to and actuated by a cam follower 30 fulcrumed at 130 whichlias two rollersV 31 and 32 which co-act with an actuating cam 33 in such a way that as the cam 33 is oscilla'ted about its pivot 311, the head 28 is positively reciprocated in a vertical direction. rllhe parts are so arranged that as the cam oscillates, the follower 30 is positively actuated to impart sudden upward and downward movements to the head 28 and so that the cani 33 may have siioht over-travel while maintaining the inlet valve either open or closed, according to the direction of the over-travel.

A branch port 35 (see head end valve, Fig. 1) leads from inlet port 12 to the space lic-- low two auxiliary valves which are closely related to each inlet valve, there being` two of these auxiliary valves for each inlet valve. The first auxiliary valve is shown in dotted .lines at 36 on the head end inlet valve in Fig. 1. It controls a passage from the branch port 35 to the inlet steam passage 17.

and consists of a single beat poppet valve opening toward the steam chest 13 and held seated by inlet steam pressure. lt is merely a safety device to vent steam from the cylf inder to the inlet steam connection if cylinder pressure should exceed inlet steam pressure, as it might do in the event of accident or maladjustment of the inlet valve or ofthe unloading mechanism. lt is therefore a relief valve and will be referred to hereinafter` by this name. The second auxiliary valve is shown at in do-tted lines in connection with the crank end inlet valve on Fig. 1, and is shown more in detail in Figs. 2 and 5. it is a. poppet valve controlling the communication from the port 35 to a branch port 38 which leads to the exhaust belt 11 (see Fig. l). Ylhe valve 37 is a single beat poppet valve which opens toward the port 35 and hence nor# mally is held closed by cylinder pressure and also by a spring 137 (see Fig. enclosed in the sleeve or bonnet 39 which sup` ports and guides the valve 37 (see Fig. 2). The valve 37 is actuated by a head l0 which engages the upper .id of its stem, and this head l0 is located below a roller tappet Ll1 on the inlet valve actuating cam 33. The parts are so arranged and proportioned that when the cam 33 has its maximum range of movement, which occurs in both full gear positions, the valve 37 will be opened at aV time when the inlet valve 22 is closed. li follows from this construction that when the valve gear is set in full gear position for either forward oi reverse rotation, the unloading valve 37 will be opened if the corresponding inlet valve 22 he closed. The ef feet of this is that when the engine i s stopped by the movement of the valve gear to mid gear position, such steam as is trapped in any working space will be. vented to the exhaust automatically through the unloadingl CII valve by the movement ot the valve gearl to either tull gear position. Such shittingv occurs as an incident to starting the engine in either direction.

Tt is not feasible in an engine of large size to mount the valve-actuating,eccentrics on the crank shaft. lJonsequently a lay shaft 42 is provided to carry the eccentrics. The lay sha-jt 42 is parallel with the crank shaft and is driven in the saine direction and at equal speed vvith the crank shafty by any suitable drivey nie-ciianisni, this detail being; omitted from ther draw-ings.

The lay shaft 42 carries for each cylinder of the engine tivo eccentrics 43 and 44 spaced 160 from each other,.the eccentric 43 being used to actuate the crank end inlet valve, and the eccentric 44 being used to actuate the head end inlet valve. The eccentric 43 is provided With` a strapV or eccentric rod 45 and the eccentric 44 with strap or eccentric rod 46. The eccentric rod 45 is connected by a reach rod 47 with the cam 33 which actuates the crank endV inlet valve. The eccentric rod 46 is connected by two inter-connected reach rods 48, 49 with the cani ,33 which actuates the head end inlet valve.

The eccentric rods 45 and 46 are guided by radius bars 50 (see particularly Fig. 3) supported on a quadrant yoke 5l, the radius bars 56 being pivoted both to the eccentric rods 45 and 46 at 52, and to the quadrant yoke 5l at 53. The quadrant yoke 51 itselt is pivoted on the trunnions 54. The dis- `i tance on centers between the trunnions 54 and the pivots 53 is equal to the distance on centers between the pivots 53 and the pins 52. The valve gear is set to produce variable cut-ott in both forward and reverse runningl by swinging the quadrant yoke 5l on the trunnions 54.

The valve gear so far described is merely a conventional Marshall 'reversing gear having a constant lead characteristic. In order to modify the act-ion of the gear to neutral ize the lead and close the inlet valves inmid gear position, l describe in the second of my related applications above identified means for shitting the quadrant yoke 5l bodily. This idea is consequently not claimed broadL ly in the present application. The present application does, however, show a particular mechanism for bringing' about this result not described or claimed in the prior application and claimed herein.

The trunnions 54 are mounted eccentrically in circular supporting members siviveled in brackets 56. The brackets 56'are sustained by the frame 7, and the eccentric arrangement ol' the trunnions 54'is such that when the discs are rotated through a small angle, the trunnions 54 are displaced a short distance horizontally. This result is effected by a hydraulic servo-motor con- -trolled .by the position ot' `the quadrant-yoke 51 and this, inl turn, .is determined'by meansv of another servo-motor controlled through a hand-operated maneuvering lever.

The quadrant yoke 51. is connected by means ot a linky 57, bellcrank 5S and link 59 vvith thel piston yrod 60 connected. With the piston head 6l. The'piston. head 61 Works ina cylinder 62, and because ot the arrangement of the* rod 60, serves as a diierentialr` piston, so that it moves to the lett when both sides are ysubjected to equal. pressure, and to the right when the right side is connected to'exhaustandrthe left sideto the source ot pressure.

The action of the piston 6l is controlled by a piston valve consisting of' two heads 63 and 64 fixed on a stein 65 and Working :in a

valve chamber 66. Pressure is supplied through the port 67, While' the ports` 68 are` exhaust ports.` A port 69. communicating With the space bettveeirthe heai'ds'68 and 641 constantly connects'the supply port 67 with the space to the left of piston'h'eadb'l. The piston head 64, Which is providedwvith subf stantial lap, alternately,.a'ccordingqto its position-connects the supply port 67 vvith a port 70 leading to the space to the right ot piston V6l,lor connects this port 70 with the e-vliaustporti 68 to discharge pressure luidl from the space to the righto'f the piston 6l.

vThe valve stem 65 is actuated conjointly byl a Anianeuvering; lever 7l and by the' piston rod 60. This is eiilectedfthrouglra floating lever 72 which is pinned at73to the bell crank 58 and at-74to a link 75 connected" with the maneuveringijlever 71. Thisfloat inglink 72 has a pin'-and-slot connection 7 6 the quadrant to neutralize the lead is caused" by the motion of the quadrantto mid-'gear position. This resultissecuredby providingg` a cam nose 77'on the quadrantl in positioii'to ac-tuate a lever 78. The lever-78 is linked to the stem79l of a piston valve 8O whichy controls the admission andexhaust otpressure fluid toA and -from the lends of al double-acting cylinder 81 Whose piston 821 is connected by a rodl 88- and forkedvyoke 84 with. arms vformedintegrally with the swivel-ed members 55.- The'parts are so arranged tliativlien-t-he camA 77 acts on the lever78, the piston 82 is moved to the left". Sincethe trunnions 54 are above'the centers of the sWiveled )members 5,these *trunnilons are shifted tothe right, swinging the inlet valve cams 33 slightly to the right ay d-istance suiiicient to` take off'theile'ad and close any open-inlet valves.- Thelpiston y82 is op'm erated byhydraulic pressure 'which is adlmitted through the ports 185 and exhausted through the ports 86, the action being obvious from the drawing.

ln order to unload thecylinders in mid gear position, the lever 78 is connected by means of a reach rod 87 with the arm 88 of a three-armed bell crank. The second arm 89 of this bell crank is forked and straddles and enters into thrust relation with a portion of the head d() which actuates the stem of the unloading valve 37. The ariangement is such that either the a ni 89 or the roller l1 on cam 33 may force the head 4l() downward to open the valve 37. The third arm 90 of the bell crank provides a connection for a coil spring 91 which tends to restore the parts to normal position, and also serves to hold the lever 78 in contact with the cam nose 77. A reach rod 92 connects the arm 88 of the bell crank on lthe crank end inlet valve with a similar arm 88 of the companion bell crank on theJhead end in let valve. It follows from the construction that the unloading valves at both ends of the cylinder are opened simultaneously when the valve gear is set to mid gear position. l/Vhen the valve gear is set in either full gear position the unloading valves are opened individually in alternation, each when the corresponding inlet valve is closed.

Assuming that the engine is at rest and that the valve gear is in the mid gear or neutral position, as shown in Fig. 2, all inlet valves are closed, all unloading valves are open. To start the engine the maneuvering lever is moved a distance suihcient to shift the quadrant 51 until cam 77 releases lever 78, allowing it to swing to the right. This sets the valve gear to run in one or the other `direction at a short cut-off, and simultaneously rotates the blocks 55 in such manner as to restore the normal lead to the inlet valve. The engine having` been unloaded when at rest, it will start under this short cut-off unless the load is too great, and the engineer may move the maneuvering lever 7l until a long enough cut-off' is reached to bring suflicient cylinders into action to start the load. lt lis not necessary, as in the structures of my two other applications above identified, to move the maneuvering lever first to a full gear position in order to unload the engine, though if thisbe done, the resulting extreme displacement of the cams 33 will cause the rollers il to open the proper unloading valves 37.

Consequently, the invention provides two unloading means, each operating independently of the other under different conditions, the important one and the novel one, so far as this case is concerned, being the one which operates in neutral or mid gear position. Such an arrangement has particular utility in engines subject to sudden decreases of load, such as rolling mill engines, because if it be attempted to stop the engine just at the end of a pass, and the load suddenly falls after the gear has been set in neutral position, but while steam remains trapped in the cylinder working spaces, the engine may be kept in motion for nearly a full stroke.

When the engine is once in motion, the engineer may shift the lever 71 to vary the point of cut-ofi. In order to stop the engine and unload its cylinders he has but to return the lever 71 to mid-gear or neutral position.

The invention is obviously capable of embodiment in various different forms and I therefore d-o not limit myself except to the extent specified in the claims. The drawings are largely diagrammatic in character and a. number of details, such as piston rings, packing glands, and other details essential to a commercial machine and well-understood by those skilled in the art, have been omitted to simplify the drawings.

Vilhat is claimed is:

l. rlilhe'comliination of a cylinder having steam inlet valves; a reversing valve gear connected to actuate said valves with variable cut-otli` in forward and reverse ruiming and having a mid-gear position in which all the inlet valves are maintained closed; unloading valves for the working spaces of said cylinder; and means serving automatically to open said unloading valves when said valve gear is in mid-gear position,

2. The combination of a cylinder having steam inlet valves; a reversing valve gear of the Marshall type connected to actuate said valves and having a quadrant member which may be shifted to provide variable cut-oli' in forward and reverse running, and Vwhich has a mid-gear position in which said inlet valves are maintained closed; unloading valves; and actuating means for said unloading` valves operable by said quadrant mem* beil as'the latter moves to its mid-gear po,- sition.

steam inlet valves; a reversing variable cutoff valve gear of the Marshall type, having a constant-lead characteristic, connected to actuate said valves; unloading valves for the working spaces of said cy .nder; and a mechanism rendered operative by the sett-ing of said valve gear mid-gear position, and when operative serving to shift said valve gear in inlet-valve closing direction and to open said unloading valves.

4l. The combination of a cylinder having an inlet valve for each working space; a reversing valve gear connected to actuate the same with variable cut-off in forward and reverse running and having a mid-gear position in which all inlet valves are closed; an unloading valve for each working space of said cylinder; a motor for actuating such unloading valves; and automatic means for actuating said motor in unloading-valve s. The combination of a cylinder having opening direction as said Valve gear is set in inid-gear position.

5. The combination of a cylindei1 having steain inlet valves; a reversing variable cutoliI valve gear connected to actuate said valves with lead in all settings, includingv a guide nieniber adjustable to determine the action ot the Valve gear and capable of being bodily shifted to close said Tlvalves; unloading valves ior the Working spaces of said cylinder: and means for simultaneously shifting said guide ineniber bodily and opening said Yunloading valves.

(i. The conibination of a cylinder having ste-ain inlet yali'ies; a reversing Variable cutoff valve gear connected to actuate said Valves With lead in all settings, including a guide ineinber adjustable to determine the action oi said Valve gear and capable ot' being bodily shifted to close said valves; unloading valves 'for the Working spaces of said cylinder; a servo-motor controlling the setting of said guide nieinber; and a second serro-inotor connected to operate in tinie relation with the i'irst servo-motor and When operated serving to open said unloading valves and shift said guide.

7. The combination of a cylinder having steam inlet valves; a reversing variable cutolil valve gear connected to actuate said valves With lead in all settings; including a guide member adjustable to. determine the action of said Valve gear and capable of being bodily shifted to close said Valves; unloading valves for the Working spaces of said cylinder; a servo-motor controlling the setting o'lt said guide nieinber; and a second seryo-rnotor controlled by the movement of said guide ineniber to and from mid-gear position, and when actuated serving to open said unloading valves and shiit said guide.

8. The combination oiI a cylinder having steain inlet valves; a reversing Variable cutoi Valve gear connected to actuate said valves Witri lead in all settings and including a guide ineinber adjustable to determine the @tion oi' the valve gear; means for bodily di @lacing said guide inember in Valve closing direction; and controlling ineans for said displacing means operated by the guide when set in mid-gear position.

ln testimony whereof I have signed niy naine to this specification.

HELENA C. NORDBERG, Eecutrx 0] the Estate of Bruno V, Nordefg. 

